


When the Morning Comes

by JayFray2911



Series: The Soundtrack of Our Lives [2]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-08-15 02:00:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8037799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayFray2911/pseuds/JayFray2911
Summary: They say when you're having a near death experience, your whole life flashes before your eyes. What they don't tell you is that it comes in snapshots, in no particular order. Guess the Tenth Doctor was right. Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey, indeed.





	When the Morning Comes

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to everyone who read Badlands. You don't have to read Badlands for this story to make sense, but it might help you understand some of the relationship dynamics.
> 
> This one will be a tad bit different from the previous story. There will be a flashback in every chapter (excluding the prologue) as well as the present day events unfolding. You'll get to know a lot more about River and Barba's life together before their break-up.
> 
> Plus, you get some protective Carisi moments and who doesn't love that?
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

River stretched as she walking into her cousin's kitchen and took a seat at her bar. Clarke was on the phone as she moved around the kitchen, but when she noticed that River had joined her, she quickly ended the phone call. Filling up a mug with coffee, she set it in front of her cousin and then poured herself one before she spoke, "Thank you for talking to Lia. Layla and Kevin have been trying to get through to her that this guy is bad for her, but I think hearing it from someone who sees day in and day out how bad a relationship can get when it goes from mental abuse to physical abuse helped."

River reached for the small container of sugar that sat on the counter as she replied, "Not a problem. I'm impressed that her parents moved her from the public school to a private one immediately after reading their text messages. So many parents I've seen chalk it up to boys will be boys or young love being a bit chaotic when they should be treating it like the abuse that it is. Hopefully, I got through to her and she'll stop skipping class to go hang out at her old school."

"I hope so. She's a good kid. They've lived next door to me for almost six years. I still see a shy ten-year-old when she comes over for advice or homework help." Clarke took a sip of coffee and shook her head, "It's been weird seeing her be so rebellious over the last few months."

"So, what are your plans for the day?" River inquired.

"Studying." When she noticed the confused look on her cousin's face, she explained, "Finals are around the corner so I'm helping Sonny by taking his notes and making flash cards since he's gotta run around all day with you doling out justice."

The detective grinned, "Look at you. Being a good girlfriend."

Clarke rolled her eyes, "Can we not use that word? I'm still trying to come to terms with the fact that I want someone to stick around for more than a night."

"Are you blushing?" River burst into laughter, "You  _are_ blushing! Oh, how the mighty have fallen. In love, no less!"

"You're a terrible cousin," Clarke spat before sticking her tongue out at the other woman.

River shrugged, "I've leveled up on being a good sister. Some other role was bound to suffer. Such is life."

Clarke crossed her arms, "Speaking of sistering, can I just say that while I am stoked that family dinner on Sundays doesn't suck anymore, it just feels like I've entered the Twilight Zone watching you two get along."  
"That's mostly because we sat down with Mom and Poppa Don. Both of them told us that it really upset them to see us fighting. Mom because, ya know, she's Mom and Poppa Don because he's afraid to step in because he never wants us to feel as if he's taking a side plus he knows he has limits since he's our step-dad."

 "What limits?" she asked with a snort.

"That's exactly what Andrea and I said." River sighed as she continued, "It turned into this big conversation about how he's still kind of waiting for the day that he crosses a line and one of us tells him that his opinion doesn't matter because he's not our real father."

"That's so crazy to me that he could think that. He's done more for you two than your sperm donor ever has."

"I know, right?" She shook her head, "None of us, Mom included, expected the conversation to turn out that way. An and I are thinking about asking him to do an adult adoption just to let him know how much he means to us. As for An and I, we decided that whatever issues we were having, we were going to put them away for Sunday dinner. She and I are doing better. We're not the best of friends, but we aren't enemies. We've gotten to know each other really well and talked about how we've treated each other over the years. Now, we're trying to learn how to live in harmony and to accept and embrace our differences rather than trying to turn each other into another version of ourselves."

"So," Clarke put her cup of coffee down and leaned on the bar, "does that mean you can date Suspenders now or is that still on a shelf?"

With a huff, River asked, "Is there a reason you ask me this question every single time we're alone?"

Nodding, the other woman answered, "Absolutely." 

"Mind sharing with the class?"

"Because now that I'm all sappy happy in love, I finally get it. The blood, sweat, and tears you put into that relationship instead of throwing in the towel years before you left for Boston. If he makes you feel anything like Sonny makes me feel, then you shouldn't be broken up." Feeling rather vulnerable after making that admission, she finished with a slight jab, "Not when both of you want each other. Sonny tells me all about the lingering looks and caresses when you two think no one is watching."

River looked down at her coffee, "Your boyfriend doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Which is why you're looking at your cup and not directly at me?" She reached out and gently took her cousin's chin in her hand. When she had guided River's gaze back to her own, she spoke softly, "Look, I'm not judging. How can I when I get this stupid smile on my face any time Sonny's name comes up. I mean, look at this? Why is this even a thing?" River laughed and Clarke continued, "I understand that you needed to concentrate on patching up your relationship with Andrea, but don't let that become a never ending excuse as to why you aren't pursuing things with Rafi."

The detective looked back down at her coffee, "Look at love, making you all wise."

Clarke began to speak but stopped when they both heard yelling come from next door. The bartender immediately tensed up, "Looks like your talk didn't work. That boy has been sneaking into Lia's room at night while Kevin and Layla are asleep. Kevin's caught him a handful of times and yelled at him. I've helped kick him out a time or two, but it doesn't seem to be doing any good. Mind flashing your badge and seeing if that helps him stay off of the fire escapes?"

River stood from the barstool, "Sure. I've got some time to kill before Sonny and I need to meet up with Lt. Benson and Rafi."

River grabbed her jacket and slid it on as she followed her cousin out of her apartment. She stood behind Clarke as she rang the neighbor's doorbell. The yelling immediately stopped and a few beats passed before Layla answered the door, "Hey, Clarke. Sorry about the noise, but right now isn't a good time."

"I know. I overheard Kevin yelling." She motioned behind her, "River spent the night at my place. I figured she could help. Put the fear of God into the boy."

Layla tersely shook her head, "We're fine. We can handle it. It's a family matter."

When the other woman started to close the door, Clarke stopped her, "Are you sure? She isn't planning on taking him in. Just talking to him. Are you okay? You're not acting like you."

Before the other woman could answer, a male voice spoke, "Let them in." Layla hesitated and suddenly, a young male showed up behind her, "Let them in now."

The boy moves away from the door and Layla lets both Clarke and River into the apartment. Once in the apartment, they realize that the boy and another male, are both armed. One has his gun pointed at Kevin and Lia. The other has his pointed directly at River, "I know you're a cop. Take your gun off and slide it to me, slowly."  
Instead of reaching for her guy, River put up both hands, but before she could say anything, the other gunman grabbed Lia off the couch and pressed the gun to her temple, "Now or she gets a bullet in her head."

River slowly reached down and took her gun out of its holster. She gently placed it on the floor and slid it towards the one who had his gun pointed directly at her. 

The male that was holding Lia pushed her to the floor and motioned with his gun towards the couch, "Why don't both of you join my future father-in-law on the couch over here. I'm sorry that both of you got caught in the middle of our family disagreement, but, since Clarke over here has tossed me out of this building a time or two, I could make the argument that she's already inserted herself in the middle. And, you?" He pointed the gun at River, "You're the cop she told me about last night, right? Well, you put yourself in my business by trying to convince her to leave me so I guess you deserve to be here too." He looked down on the floor where Lia was cowering and pulled her to him, "Lia, baby, it's going to be okay. We've got a cop. That means there are people out there who are going to be really invested in making sure she gets out of here alive. We're gonna run away together. You, me, and Aiden are going to be one little happy family. You just wait and see." He kissed her head and turned back toward the couch, "Notice I didn't have my little brother take your cell phone, detective. Pull that out and call someone who cares enough about you that they'll get me money and a way to get out of here with my girl and my brother."

  
River slowly moved to maneuver her phone out of her pocket. She hit number 2 on her speed dial, "Hey, Sonny. Are you with Lt. Benson? Good. Put me on speaker. I've got a bit of a problem."


End file.
